In an effort to help original content creators learn about the growing opportunities on YouTube, we're hosting a live and interactive session this Wednesday, September 1, 2010, at 3:00 p.m. BST. This could be the perfect time to apply for a YouTube partnership!

We’ll take you through the numerous benefits of becoming a YouTube Partner, the criteria for joining the YouTube Partner Program, and the application process. Attendees of the session will have the chance to have their applications approved immediately, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

YouTube has been shortlisted alongside five other fantastic music sites as The Best Place To Hear Music by the BT Digital Music Awards. So, if the thought of us in full awards garb making a hash of our acceptance speech appeals, head to the BT DMA site and get voting, as the winner will be decided by you, the Great British Public.

These are the big questions on the lips of the YouTube community. To help answer them, we're launching “YouTube Charts” to give you a clear view of how your favorite videos and creators stack up against each other. You can sort charts by “today,” “this week” and “all time.”

We’d love to hear your suggestions on which charts you’d like to see. Best newcomer? Most shared video? Fastest to a million views? Let us know right here, in the forum discussion on this topic.

Grime is arguably the most dynamic, exciting and productive genre in the UK right now, and so it is only proper that it should enjoy its own UK Music Tuesday. With artists flooding the platform with their work, we have called in the experts: this week's curation is brought to you by Jamal 'SB' Edwards, the man behind youth lifestyle broadcasting channel SB.TV -- so sit back and enjoy his Grime Top 40.

"I started using YouTube about three or four years ago, as I thought it was the best way to get my music to the masses -- to spread Grime and UK Urban music worldwide," Jamal explains. "Fast forward to now and I have 17.5 million views and have filmed international stars. I see YouTube as a great way to bridge that initial gap -- because when I say to people that I have 17 .5 million views, they are shocked. And that has helped me to get jobs, to talk to people... it has led to quite a lot of things."

In that time it has also become clear that YouTube has become the digital channel of choice for the fast-developing genre, which has managed to hold on to its underground roots while sending its stars to the top of the charts. "I think Grime artists have embraced YouTube the way they have because it is easily accessible," reasons Jamal. "YouTube is just... there. And everyone is on it. So when you put up video up you know it is going to go out to a lot of people."

So let's see what SB.TV have prepared for UK Music Tuesday:

Alongside Grime, Jamal has another passion -- his subscribers on YouTube: "My subscribers have hugely helped me as when I put a video up, it goes straight out to them. That is another good way of getting yourself out there. Related videos is also another great tool to discover new music.

"Today I have included videos from GrimeDaily, Tim Westwood TV, Tim & Barry -- people who I think are doing it as much as I am, and trying to push it out. Because at the end of the day, and I don't want to sound corny, we are trying to push Team UK out there as everyone is trying to do their thing at the moment."

On which note, it feels like a good time to thank Jamal and SB.TV for an excellent UK Music Tuesday. Head to the channel for more playlists, subscribe, leave us a comment -- and we'll see you next week.

Tonight, thousands of fans will pack into Madison Square Garden in New York City to hear Arcade Fire...but they won’t be the only ones experiencing the band’s orchestral indie rock roar: the concert will be live-streamed right here at 3 a.m (BST)/10 p.m. (ET). The global webcast will be directed by Monty Python alum and award-winning filmmaker Terry Gilliam, and is the first show in the new “Unstaged” concert series brought to you by YouTube, American Express and Vevo.

But don’t simply watch -- participate! During tonight’s concert, you can interact with the band and the performance itself by choosing your own camera angle. You can also be part of the show via the "Share Your Suburb" photo project. Since Arcade Fire’s new album is called The Suburbs, they’re encouraging fans to upload pictures of their own leafy neighborhoods, including snapshots of front porches, tree-lined streets and grocery store parking lots -- anything that reflects your hometown. The band will feature their favorite submissions onstage during their live performance, so go ahead and submit your images here.

Viewers will also hear from the group in a special pre-show Q&A interview conducted by Terry Gilliam, based on questions you asked here.

So tune in tonight at 3 a.m. (BST)/10 p.m. (ET) to catch these chart-topping Canadians performing live from one of the most legendary venues in NYC. And don’t fret if you miss anything: highlights from the concert will be available on the band’s YouTube channel shortly after the event.

We want YouTube to be the best place to upload video. Without question, the number one requested feature by our creators is to upload videos longer than 10 minutes. We’ve heard you, and today we’re pleased to announce that we’ve increased the upload limit to 15 minutes.

We encourage you to take full advantage of this new time limit by making a video of your “15 minutes of fame.” Imagine that this video is all the world will ever know about you: what would you want to communicate? What will be the enduring stamp you’ve left on us all? Tag your video with “yt15minutes,” upload it by Wednesday, August 4, and we’ll select a handful of people to truly gain their 15 minutes of fame by featuring them on the YouTube homepage in a future spotlight.

In the meantime, you may wonder “why now?” -- the upload limit for non-partners has been 10 minutes for years. Well, we’ve spent significant resources on creating and improving our state-of-the-art Content ID system and many other powerful tools for copyright owners. Now, all of the major U.S. movie studios, music labels and over 1,000 other global partners use Content ID to manage their content on YouTube. Because of the success of these ongoing technological efforts, we are able to increase the upload limit today. We will continue our strong commitment to provide advanced technology and tools to protect the rights of small and large copyright owners worldwide. We’ll also do everything we can to release incremental improvements like this one that benefit our video creators.

One final note: if you’re uploading a video that was previously rejected for being too long, you’ll have to go into “My Videos” and delete it before attempting to upload it again. Thanks and happy uploading!